F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 318: Paradise
It was as though time slowed to a crawl in Graysword Fields, a famous rookie leveling zone.
The Bladeborns, for a few moments, stopped hunting Swordspawns, staring at the skies instead.
They watched as the Yggdrasil Race timer ticked down.
"Hey, you think we’ll win this time?" a brown-haired young man asked his comrades.
"You fool..." chuckled a blonde young woman. "Don’t you see those names below the timer? How the hell can we even lose?"
To her surprise, few voiced their agreement.
"Yeah, but think about it...We don’t know who the enemies will send. What if...what if those Four Starblades turned out to be middling among the twenty participants? Not to mention that Onimaru Kunitsuna turned out to be an S-ranker... A World Breach sounds quite ominous, no?"
"Oh shut up! You’re making me worried, too! Just trust them. What else can we do?!"
**
Meanwhile, inside an inn room in a city far, far away from where the conversation happened, a blonde young man stared at the huge timer.
Daru’s heart raced in anticipation.
Twenty of the finest Bladeborns of their generation will clash in a high-stakes interracial event to see who will return as heroes.
’How exciting...But I must be responsible...’ he reminded himself.
If clashing with an interesting foe will affect their victory, then he shall discard the chance without a second thought.
"00:20"
The atmosphere in all five continents of the Myriad Sword Realm grew heavier as the timer ticked down.
While all the races were confident of their representatives to a degree, the fact that no one knows anything about the Yggdrasil Race made everyone uneasy.
How long would the event last?
What are the winning conditions?
What exactly is a World Breach?
Unfortunately, everyone can only wait and watch in solemn silence as the seconds tick down.
For the first time in decades, the four races were reminded of the grim reality that the Sword Trials is not a game of strategies and advantages.
That losing doesn’t mean simply profiting less, but the possible destruction of one’s world.
...That being a Bladeborn is not a mere professional career.
[0:00]
...
[The Novice Event: Yggdrasil Race has begun!]
The moment Daru saw the notification, his world dissolved, and he found himself standing in a white void.
[Welcome, Onimaru Kunitsuna of the Human Race].
Greeted an ancient, stiff voice as a window suddenly popped up in front of him:
[You have received an Event Quest!]
==
Event Quest: The Sapling of Life
Description: From the roots of eternity, a single Sapling has emerged — a fragment of the World Tree’s divine essence. Whichever race binds with it will have the power to shape the fate of the new age.
Objective: Secure the Sovereign Sapling for your race before rival factions claim it - 0/1
Rewards: Yggdrasil Race Champion Reward Pack
==
Daru read the contents of the quest, and the exact moment the winning condition registered in his brain, he felt as though his very existence was shattered and reformed in an instant.
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
However, it was soon washed away by the feeling of thick, almost viscous air of vitality.
The next thing Daru knew, temperate winds were caressing his skin as he stood in the middle of a comfortable paradise of brown and green.
He was in a thriving ecosystem.
Trees, bushes, flowers, a small lake in the distance...
Daru’s brows rose.
’It doesn’t seem like I’m in a colossal tree, though...’
Everything would have been perfect had there been chirping birds and buzzing bees.
At the very least, he had spawned in a peaceful location.
But then, he began noticing a few strange things, too. The ground, for one, was strangely a bit bouncy.
There were also silhouettes of strange pillars hiding behind distant clouds.
In any case, it didn’t seem like he was in immediate danger, so Daru turned his attention to the quest.
’Sovereign Sapling...’
This requirement solved the mystery of why the event was called a race — the first race to retrieve the quest item wins, plain and simple.
’Where can I find that sapling, though?’ he wondered, scratching his cheek while staring at the quest window.
After informing them of the winning conditions, the Overseer suddenly just hurled them to Yggdrasil, if his assumptions were correct.
There were no directions, no reminders, no warnings...nothing.
’This should be to my advantage...’ he mused.
After all, directions or not, his dogwater sense of direction would leave him hopelessly turned around either way.
Knowing his opponents would be just as lost was oddly reassuring.
The Overseer had dragged his opponents down to his level for him. Now, all he needed to do was beat them with experience!
If one doesn’t know where to go...
’A direction is just as good as any other!’
A faint smile appeared on Daru’s face as he advanced towards a tall tree in the distance, planning to use every bit of experience he had under his belt.
This was just like that time with Harlowe.
He would use a high vantage point to scout the surroundings and choose which way to go. Perhaps he might even catch a glimpse of that Sovereign Sapling from up there...
He arrived a minute later, checking and ensuring that the surroundings and the tree itself are danger-free before proceeding to climb.
Daru was quite confident of his Perception.
After all, he just recently invested twelve points in them.
The fact that his overall physical attributes improved tremendously after equipping his pallid gray, level 60 armor set also contributed to his confidence.
He was peacefully scaling the tree when, suddenly, his world spun.
’Huh?’
Daru was confused until he finally saw a headless body in his quickly dimming vision.
His body.
Then, he noticed something shift before oblivion embraced him.
The branch...it moved...
The next thing Daru knew, he was standing in the middle of a brown and green paradise again, but it was easy to notice he was in a different location.
He had died and lost a life.
